When I moved up north, it was the implied under­stand­ing that Mother Nature could send all the Nor’Easters, Snow­maged­dons and all that fun win­tery crap with the agree­ment that I was never to deal with earth­quakes or hur­ri­canes ever again. Trop­i­cal storms – meh – they hap­pen – but when both an earth­quake and a hur­ri­cane impact Philadel­phia within a week, I want the num­ber of the fool here who irri­tated Mother Nature so badly she’s chang­ing the scheme of the weather.

So – let’s jump to a few things that will make a gal happy, shall we?

1. If you looked in my shoe arse­nal, you would see I have a pen­chant for booties – espe­cially lace up heeled ones like these Sam Edel­man Rowin booties that are new for Fall 2011. Plus – with the impend­ing flood warn­ings for Man­ayunk, well, the name is appro­pri­ate as well… *sigh*

2. I’ve decided that since Mother Nature is so insis­tent on mak­ing the houses rat­tle and roll, that per­haps I should look into invest­ing in new din­ner­ware for when this weather drama is over. I will never for­get Colin Cowie’s advice to use the “good dishes” just because – as he had lost some favorite pieces in a earth­quake years ago. I’m over the moon about this Cam­den din­ner­ware from Crate and Bar­rel and plan on get­ting mix and match pieces in all three shades!

3. When­ever I see a mini-baker, I always think of Sin­gle Serving’s Manouschka.   This ruf­fled baker from Anthro­polo­gie is beyond adorable and it’s the per­fect size for indi­vid­ual por­tions.  Love the ruf­fle detail­ing and the coral shade.

4. I will be mak­ing good use of this lovely All Clad Deluxe Slow Cooker from Williams Sonoma while the wind and rain cause a ruckus out­side.  I don’t care if it’s still August, this gal will need to make some com­fort food for the week­end and I think Pork Tinga or Short Ribs might be on the menu. I can­not say it enough – this slow cooker is one of my best culi­nary invest­ments ever – next to my knives and my Le Creuset.

5. I already warned that this was going to be a “Can­ning in Stilet­tos” week­end – and I finally suc­cumbed and added yet another can­ning book to my arse­nal: The Art of Pre­serv­ing from Williams-Sonoma. I plan on mak­ing the Mixed Berry Jam, Dijon Style Mus­tard and maybe another recipe if all goes well – the Chipo­tle Ketchup looks like a viable option or should I go with the Cin­na­mon Apple­sauce? Hmm­mmm – deci­sions decisions.

East Coast­ers – stay safe out there – This Irene gal is not one to play nice in the sand­box.  Hun­ker down and tell us what has you obsessed this weekend!